Thank you Danae, Shazza19 and C1B12 for the feedback! Sorry about the cliffhanger and I hope people like this next part...not that great at writing action sequences but I tried.

Author Note: Okay I'm sorry but I'm loving writing John as a somewhat good parent...not a perfect parent by any stretch of the imagination but one who wouldn't be afraid of giving his children the comfort they would need at certain times in their lives. So yes John is probable OCC here but that is the fun of fan fiction.

Enjoy and please remember feedback helps keep the creative juices running :).

Thanks

Val

Chapter 7

Sammy and Jo jumped when Rumsford began to growl and ran towards the kitchen. They both looked at each other when they heard the door to the kitchen door slam shut and Rumsford frantic barking.

Sammy grabbed Jo's hand and urged her towards the other door as he hissed. "Hide!" The two children slipped into the hall closet and crawled in the back, shoving some boxes in front of them to hide behind.

"You little bitch, you come out right this minute or your beating will be even worse than the last one!" Shouted Roy as he knocks over an end table causing the lamp and nick-knacks on the table to crash to the ground.

Jo whimpered as Sam wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Daddy and Uncle Bobby will stop him." Sammy whispered. They both jumped when they heard a high pitch scream and more furniture being knocked over.

Jo looked over at Sammy when they heard Rumsford growling and barking. Suddenly the door swung open and they saw Dean standing before them.

"Come on!" He shouted as he grabbed both children by their hands and pulled them towards the kitchen so that they could go out the back door.

"Dean you're bleeding," Jo cried when she saw blood running down his face.

"Later, let's go!" Dean said as he dragged his charges towards the kitchen. They were halfway to the kitchen when they heard Rumsford howl in pain.

"Rumsford!" Jo cried as she turned towards the sound of the dog as he yipped in pain again

Dean tugged the crying girl along. They had only gone a few steps before Dean felt Jo being tugged away from him. He barely had time to register that the man had Jo before he felt himself being shoved into his brother causing both boys to tumble into the kitchen.

Dean shook his head as he reached down and pulled his brother up. "Sammy, run! Get Dad!" He screamed as he shoved the other boy towards the back door that he had opened before he had gone to find the hiding children.

Dean swung around and his heart stopped when he saw the man backhand Jo so hard that her head snapped sideways. "JO!" Dean cried as the little girl went limp in the man's arms.

"Get out of my way you little bastard! Roy snarled as Dean blocked his path.

"Let her go!"

The man he assumed was Roy grinned. "We got someone lined up for this little slut and a punk like you ain't gonna stop me."

Dean swallowed the bile in his throat as he realized what their intention was for Jo and he looked around the room frantically, his eyes falling upon the knocked over table. Dean saw the gun Bobby had taped to the underside of the table and quickly ran over and slid the gun from the holster.

Roy laughed as Dean took his stance and aimed the gun at him. "What do you think you're going to do with that little boy?"

"Let her go!" Dean shouted again.

Dean gulped when he saw the glint of the knife as Roy put it up against Jo's throat. "Now little boy we know you ain't gonna use that gun. Put it down and I won't slice her throat."

Dean planted his feet and slipped the safety off and shored up the only clean shot he had that Jo wouldn't be caught in the crossfire. "I'll shoot," he told the man, his voice cracking.

He winced when Roy nicked Jo's throat and he saw a small trickle of blood begin to slide down her throat onto her shirt.

"I'll shoot," Dean said again trying to sound more confident than he felt.

"Kid, when I'm done with her, I'm gonna enjoy taking care of you." Roy gloated as he began to drag the knife along Jo's throat.

"Noooo!" Dean screamed as he closed his eyes and squeezed the trigger.

SPNSPNSPN

Sammy stood on the back porch as he looked around frantically trying to decide which direction to go. Finally, he caught a flash of a beam of light from a flashlight and took off towards the light.

He stopped when he saw his father down a long row of cars. "DADDY!" Sammy cried as he started running again towards the man.

"Sammy, what are you doing out here?"

"Daddy, a man broke into the house! He's wants Jo!" The child explained.

John stared at his youngest for a second before he scooped the boy up and headed towards the house, shouting out towards the direction that Bobby had gone. "Bobby, he's in the house!"

John was almost at the house and he could hear Bobby running behind him. He pulled up short when he heard the gunshot. "DEAN!" John shouted in terror as he raced towards the house and his son.

SPNSPNSPN

John froze in the doorway when he took in the sight before him. He turned Sammy head so that he didn't see the bodies...oh God there were two bodies on the floor of the kitchen. He felt the older man push him aside to get to his niece.

"Jo, sweetheart!" Bobby choked as he saw the blood on her neck. He quickly grabbed a dish towel that he saw laying on the floor next to her and began to wipe at the blood to see how badly she was cut.

"Bobby?" John said.

"I think she's okay, they're surface cuts...think he was trying to scare Dean more than hurt her." He said as he dabbed at the cuts.

Once the older man was satisfied that his nieces' injuries weren't life threatening, he lifted her into his arms and carried her out of the room.

John looked down at his son and saw the gun still in his shaking hands. He gently put Sammy on the floor. "Sammy, I want to go into the living room with Uncle Bobby and Jo. Don't look down at the man; Buddy, eyes straight." He told the child. He didn't want to send him by himself, but he knew he needed to focus on Dean right now.

John watched his youngest run out of the room past the body and he swore a piece of his heart broke watching his son run past the man his brother had killed.

He turned his attention back to Dean. He saw that the boy was beginning to go into shock and his priority was to get the gun away from him.

"Dean...Baby...it's alright. Everyone is safe. Now give Daddy the gun." He urged. Dean eyes were focus on the body on the floor as his whole body began to shake. "Baby, look at Daddy." John said softly. "Come on Baby, look at me." He said again.

Dean dragged his eyes from the body and looked up to his father. He slowly lifted his hands and held them out towards John. The older Winchester sighed as he took the gun from his son, securing the weapon and laying it on the floor before pulling the boy into his arms.

The child finally broke and began to sob as he wrapped his arms around his father's neck. John lifted his son as Dean wrapped his legs around his father's waist. John was shocked to realize when he put his hand on his son's bottom to secure him that Dean had wet himself.

"Come on Baby, let's get you into the tub and get you cleaned up." He told Dean in a gently voice.

John carried Dean upstairs and sat him down on the toilet as he began to draw a warm bath. While the tub filled, he turned and looked at his son. "Come on buddy," he said as he began to undress his son. Soon he was helping the child into tub. His heart broke as Dean sat in the tub shaking uncontrollable and crying.

He quickly washed his son, realizing he probable hadn't done this task since Dean was about five and again, he realized how he made his son grow up too fast since the night his mother died. Once he had finished washing Dean he got him out of the tub and wrapped him in towel before picking him up and bringing him into their bedroom where he helped him dressed in the warmest clothes Dean had before wrapping a couple of blankets around him and warm him up.

"Dean, you need to try and calm down." John urged as he rubbed his hands up and down his arms trying to warm him up as much as possible.

"I'm sor...sor...sorry Daddy." Dean sobbed.

"It's okay Dean. You did what you had to do." He reassured the child.

"Wasss toooo a... afra...afraid to sh... sho...shoot! J... Jo...de...dea...dead...cu...cuz...of me!" He wailed.

John stared at his son. The child hadn't heard Bobby when he had told John that the little girl was alright. "Oh Dean, sweetheart," John said as pulled him onto his lap and hugged his distraught son. "Baby, Jo's alright, she's fine. Listen to me Dean. You saved Jo and you saved your brother from that man."

Dean reached up and rubbed his eyes as his tears finally subsided. "Jo's not dead?" He asked as he tried to get his breathing under control.

"No, she's fine." John reassured him. "Do you want to go downstairs to see for yourself?"

Dean nodded his head as he wrapped his arms around his father's neck. "Okay," John said realizing his son wasn't quite ready to let him go and conceded he was going to be carrying him downstairs. They stopped in the bathroom first and John set Dean down in front of the sink and told him to wash his face as he grabbed the clothes, he left on the floor earlier and put them in the hamper.

When Dean finished, he turned towards his father and lift his arms up in the universal pick me up gesture. John sighed but instead of picking his son up, he guided him towards the toilet and sat him down on the closed lid.

"Dean I need you to tell me what happened." He said as he knelt in front of his son.

The boy bit his lip as he reached down and rubbed his hands on her knees. "We were watching the movie and I saw Rumsford sit at attention. Dad, I knew something was wrong and I told Rumsford to protect Jo and Sammy while I went to check the house."

"Clever boy," John said as he smiled encouragingly at his son.

Dean shyly returned his father's smile. "I checked the bedrooms first and then downstairs. I was checking the kitchen to make sure the door was still locked when I heard sounds on the cellar stairs."

"He was in the cellar." John said with a shake of his head. Dear God in heaven, they never checked inside the house. They assumed it was secure but he must have gotten in before him and Bobby had begun checking the locks on the doors and windows of the house and decided to bide his time when it was only the children in the house.

"I went to check the door when he came crashing through it. It gets a little fuzzy after that. When I came through Rumsford was licking my face. I know I opened the kitchen door for him and then the back door cuz all locks were done, and I wanted to get Jo and Sammy out fast before I went to find them. I remember when I got to the living room that Rumsford had him on the ground. I went to find Sammy and Jo...I heard them in the closet...I was trying to get them to the kitchen when Roy..."

Dean looked at his father, his eyes brimming with tears. John gathered his son in his arms, "Shhh it's okay, buddy, I can figure out the rest on my own. Let's go see Sammy and Jo." He gently lifted Dean up and carried him downstairs and into the living room. "See," he said as he turned so that his son could see the other children.

"DEAN!" Jo and Sammy shouted in unison as they saw him, and John come into the room.

Dean blushed as he realized that he was having his father carry him like a baby in front of the younger children and whispered in his father's ear. "Dad, can you put me down."

John pulled back looking into his son's eyes and saw that he looked more alert...almost like his normal self. He smiled and didn't care if he embarrassed Dean, he was just so damn relieved that he kissed him on the cheek.

"Dad," Dean whined but smiled at his father as he put him down. He turned and ran over to the couch and found himself in an awkward group hug with Jo and Sammy. The three children were knocked to the ground when Rumsford jumped up to join them.

"RUMRSFORD!" Dean said excitedly as he wrapped his arms around the dog and hugged him. He had feared that Roy had killed the dog when he had heard him yipping in pain earlier. He looked up at Bobby questioningly.

"He kicked him a few times in the ribs and I think once in the head, but he seems okay. I'll take him to the vet tomorrow just to be sure." He said as looked at Dean before he got up and went over to John and pulled him into the hall.

"I called Rufus; he should be here in a couple of hours. He's gonna help us clean this up." Bobby told him quietly.

John nodded his head as he watched the three children sitting on the couch together with Jo in between Dean and Sammy with Rumsford sprawled across their laps. He notices how they were all holding onto each other. He wasn't surprised to see Dean holding onto Jo's hand, but he watched as Sammy slowly took hold of the girl's other hand. "Maybe we should let them all sleep together tonight."

"Already told Jo the boys could sleep in with her tonight." Bobby told John. "Figured either you or me could camp out in there on the cot."

"I will, I want to stay close to Dean." John said as he watched the three children and he saw Jo rest her head on Dean's shoulder as her eyes began to close. He turned slightly and saw that Sammy's eyes were also beginning to close as he curled around Jo and stretched his hand out towards his brother and held onto the older boy's shirt.

"Why don't we bring them upstairs, get them away from..." Bobby nodded his head towards kitchen.

"Yeah," John said before he started towards the kids. He reached down and gently lifted Sammy up as Bobby scooped up Jo. "Dean can you walk, or do you want me to come back for you?"

Dean yawned. "I can walk Dad," he said he patted the dog. "Come on Rumsford," he encouraged the dog to follow them.

Once Jo and Sammy were tucked in Dean reach down and took his father's hand and pulled him away from the bed towards Jo's desk. "Dad, I need to tell you something Roy said."

"What's that Dean?" Bobby asked as he joined them.

Dean looked at the two hunters before looking over at the sleeping children. "He said that they got good money for Jo."

Bobby stared at Dean in horror before sinking down into the chair at the desk. "Money for her," he repeated his heart breaking at realizing his own sister would sell her child for money.

John put his hand on his son's shoulder. "Dean, are you sure he said that?"

"Yes Sir, he said that they had somebody lined up for her too."

The oldest Winchester looked at his friend. "Bobby, Rufus should be here soon," he said as he urged Dean towards the bed. "Come on Dean, climb in. I'll be back up in a little bit but if you need me, I'll be right downstairs." He told him as he tucked his son in, brushing his hair away from his forehead before leaning down and kissing the top of his head.

"Okay Dad," he said as he patted the bed to call Rumsford up. John watched as Dean yawned before he rolled onto his side and wrapped an arm around Jo and quickly fell asleep as his adrenaline rush came to a crashing end.

TBC